Tuesday, July 2, 1957

July 2, 1957

JFK is on the floor of the senate this day and gives a speech that generally denounced France for their colonialism in Algeria and their opposition to the fight for Algerian independence.

The speech raised eyebrows in several political factions, not least because John Kennedy had never been to Algeria or taken much interest in the affairs in Northern Africa before he sided with the independence movement in his recently released 1960 book The Strategy of Peace.

The speech was seen by many as a self-serving attempt by Kennedy to latch onto a foreign policy issue that would increase his profile. It was soundly denounced in even the most left-leaning French publications like Le Monde and was also panned by the New York Times,

…(Kennedy) had added fuel to a raging fire… To be of service in a situation like this requires the utmost delicate exercise of diplomacy and not a smashing public attack… Neither from the French nor American point of view is the problem as clear or simple as Senator Kennedy tries to make it. Perhaps the strongest criticism of the Senator’s efforts is that he has run a strong risk of making the situation worse…

In addition to his newsmaking Senate speech, JFK is also in the news this day when The Washington Daily News reports on an address JFK gave to the 2000 teenager boys at the Key Club International Convention. Despite his best-selling book Profiles in Courage about eight senators who refused to compromise their principles or position, JFK tells the group to learn the art of compromise

“because it is compromise that holds the union together.”

Also included in his remarks that day was,

“…. many of you seated here today are the Dwight Eisenhowers of the future.”